Hammocks?

[Billnpatti]

I, too, was curious about how the Long Hammock name came to be. As I was told, he retired and moved to Florida. When he left his old job, he told them that he was moving to Florida and getting a long hammock to relax in. After being retired for a while he became bored with doing nothing and found a barrel maker who wanted to sell his equipment. I'm not sure but it may have been Deer Creek Products in Waldron, Indiana. Anyhow, he got the barrel making equipment and started making barrels in his spare time. When people found how good his barrels were, his business picked up to the point that it was no longer a part time business. When searching for a name, he said that he guessed that he had found his long hammock so that became the name of his company. And, now you know the rest of the story.

 

[tenngun]

Until the 19th century and infact well up until the 1830s most men at sea slept in hammocks or swinging beds merchant or man-a-war. With out making a bed on the ground you can stay warmer. Back in the day no one would care about killing a cedar tree to get enough boughs to make a warm bed, and a good bed on the ground would be warmer and more comfortable. In terms of spead you could hang a mammock and keep warm in less time then making a bed. Today when I treck I use ground litter for a bed, not as easy as striping a living tree. Something they wouldn't stop to have cared about back then,.

 

[Karl Helweg]

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm091.html

http://warof1812archaeology.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html

I tried to document a hammock years ago and just never quite found enough evidence that they were used on the frontier to suit me.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Interesting :hmm:

 

[jamesthomas]

If I was to ever get in a Hammock I would never be able to get out of it except the old turn it over an dump me out routine. :surrender: :haha: .

 

[coloradoclyde]

It's easier for me to get out of a hammock in the morning than to pick myself up off the hard ground.

 

[Coot]

I used to be a global warming denier but could not come up with any other reason why the ground is so much harder than 25 years ago. :idunno:

 

[coloradoclyde]

 

[Rick Boylan]

It may be that the grounds not harder, but you've gotten softer. :haha:

 

[satx78247]

Where did you get the NICE PORTRAIT of my EX brother-in-law.

CHUCKLE, satx :haha:

 

[Bear Rider]

It's easier for me to get out of a hammock in the morning than to pick myself up off the hard ground.

Amen, brother. I don't camp out any more unless I can have either my hammock or a cot. It's just not worth the pain.

 

[Karl Helweg]

It is pretty bad when folding canopy beds are easier to document than hammocks.

http://www.livinghistoryshop.com/category/18th-century-furniture/

 

[Alden]

Other than aboard ships is there any record of hammocks being used ?

Yes - I tested one in the back yard, once, in 1986. Mistake! On the positive side we did find some fun uses for it in the house eventually though...

 

[coloradoclyde]

I think hammocks have come a long way since 1986 Alden. I hated the first one
I slept in too...because I was doing it wrong. and I had a crappy hammock

 

[Karl Helweg]

Iroquois hammock 1664: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/iroquois-village-1664-granger.html

I would have much rather have slept in a hammock like I used in the Army than on the ground or even a cot.

 

[Alden]

I think hammocks have come a long way since 1986 Alden. I hated the first one
I slept in too...because I was doing it wrong. and I had a crappy hammock

LOL Clyde, it's a hammock -- how far COULD they have come!? Besides, I sold them for years... And I know how to sleep -- finally even got the snoring part down pat too.

 

[Bear Rider]

Hammocks have come a LONG way since you sold them. People are able to sleep comfortably in them in sub-zero weather. Tree straps, low-stretch lines, preset sag, bridge hammocks -- the list goes on and on.

 

[coloradoclyde]

It might be time for you to re-visit the hammock Alden. Hennesey, Blackbird, and others are pushing the envelope of comfort and technology. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[WoodsRoamer]

I have a cheap $20 cotton one that I've started to use for camping. Last year was the first time I used a hammock for it and the first time I fell asleep in under 10 minutes while camping. When you use them sometimes you have to sleep at an angle in them to sleep flat and have another layer between you and the hammock like a beach towel. I have read about how sailors would bring hammocks with them when they retired from the navy so it is a possibility that they were used.

 

[Stophel]

Reconstructed sailors' hammocks on the Kronan, a Swedish warship from the 1670's:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Kalmar_museum_Kronan_(shipp)_deck.JPG

Here you can see convicts' hammocks reproduced from early 19th century Australia. http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2010/07/francis-greenway-convict-architect-in.html

In the 19th century, at least, they seem to have become rather common for not only prisons and ships, but things like schools for wayward boys. They also became quite the rage as "lounging" became popular... at least among the wealthy who could afford to lounge. There are lots of mid 19th century paintings of lovely genteel ladies reposing comfortably in their hammocks among the springtime blossoms (while presumably, their servants and slaves were off working the fields and tending to the household...).

Michel Garnier, late 18th century? http://18thcenturyblog.com/images/uploads/1269_original.png?1246630082

They were certainly known, at least to sailors and academics, and I have seen pictures of hammocks back to the 1500's, but I would suspect that the average 18th century man, particularly the backwoodsman, might never have seen nor heard of such a thing, and besides, even if he had, he was probably so used to sleeping on the ground or some other uncomfortable pallet that he wouldn't be able to stand the comfort of a hammock! :haha:

Making an 18th century hammock might be an interesting project.

I recently got a modern Hammock Bliss hammock with the mosquito net (and I have a tarp to go over it). I have stayed out in it only a few times, and yes, it can be somewhat difficult to get yourself and everything else arranged in the hammock (blankets and such), but once you do, let me tell you, it is WAY better than sleeping on the ground, a foam sleeping pad, an air mattress... or my bed in the house! Now, I'm a "side sleeper" and it is hard (but not impossible) for me to really lay on my side in the hammock, so I'm still getting used to it. And yes, you can lay more or less straight in it, by putting your feet to one side and your head to the other. :wink:

Of course, my modern nylon hammock rolls up into a ball and stuffs into its own sack to a space the size of a gallon jug, and doesn't weigh much at all. I can imagine that a linen or hemp 18th century hammock with all the heavy hemp ropes probably doesn't pack up nearly as small or light... :hmm: